Knights’ No. 2 line still looking for first goal as unit

The Golden Knights expected big things from their second line after making a significant investment in the unit during the offseason.

They are still awaiting the dividends, though there may be reason to believe a check is in the mail.

“I thought they played well and played hard (on Saturday night),” coach Gerard Gallant said. “They didn’t score, but they’re playing hard and it’s going to come. (Max) Pacioretty had four shots and had some opportunities, so like I said it will come sooner or later.”

Pacioretty, who was acquired in a trade just before training camp, expected to make a big impact on the second line along with free-agent addition Paul Stastny. Erik Haula drew the assignment on the right wing when the season began, though the plans were altered when Stastny suffered an injury in the third game that’s likely to keep him sidelined until December.

After some mixing and matching, Haula has taken over at center with Tomas Hyka at right wing.

The unit has spent 17:54 seconds of 5-on-5 play together over the last four games without scoring a goal in their 11 scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

More concerning is that Pacioretty and Haula have yet to find the net in the nearly 78 minutes they’ve played 5-on-5 with any other player on their line, though they have generated 56 total scoring chances together while allowing just 35.

“It’s a work in progress,” Haula said. “We haven’t scored, but we’ve had some chances. Overall, me and Max are probably a little frustrated with not being able to get on the board. Not that we’ve played bad or anything, it’s just one of those times where it’s not going in. We definitely need to just keep working on our game. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You go through times like this and sometimes it’s just hard to go through it at the beginning.

“It doesn’t always click right away. You just keep working at it and try to limit your frustration level and keep moving forward.”

Pacioretty’s only goal this season came in a 6-on-5 situation after goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled at Minnesota. Haula’s lone goal was on assists from Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson with Pacioretty on the bench against Buffalo. Pacioretty’s efforts have resulted in a team-high 23 shots on target, but they are still waiting to break through as a unit.

“Chemistry comes with success,” Haula said. “That’s where you build it. If you don’t have success, you can’t really say you have great chemistry. I think they go hand-in-hand. It’s just something where we have go get over the hump and then I’m sure they’ll start coming in bunches.”

The injury to Stastny, a more natural setup man at center, certainly didn’t help the learning curve. Hyka has settled in at right wing, but it’s likely he’s just keeping the spot warm until Alex Tuch comes off injured reserve. Tuch practiced with teammates for the first time in the regular season on Sunday and appears close to returning.

Hyka may even be the leading candidate to be sent down when Tuch is activated.

“We’re going to work on (our chemistry) as a line to try and get the three of us to gel together,” Pacioretty said. “It hasn’t been there yet but I do like playing with (Hyka).

“We want to try and … earn our ice time and help the team win. That’s how this team had success. We all challenge each other and we want to challenge the other lines to take each other’s ice time. That’s that good internal competitiveness that allows us to have good results.”

Right now, the team is playing well and it’s allowing Haula and Pacioretty the time to figure each other out.

“Our team is playing real well,” Haula said. “We’re rolling four lines and everyone is buying in and doing the things that make us successful and make us a hard team to beat. Putting up that many shots (45) against a good team like Anaheim just shows we’re playing well together. We’re a team and it’s not about who gets the goals. Obviously, it’d be nice to get some, but it could be worse.

“If we were losing and not scoring, it’s a lot worse.”

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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.